Hungary's Day Off

We were told there is one holiday each month where everyone is supposed to NOT have to work.  That was yesterday.  There was a meeting at the City Office Building, which we went to.  It is the one below.

It was impressive as we were walking toward this, they had started the meeting, so we were late.  We could hear a choir singing a song, and people were stopped.  So we stopped also. Someone told us their national anthem sounded "like a death march".  They were right.  We couldn't get too good of pictures because of the number of people.  It's interesting to note there was something in the middle of the plaza there where people could not be, so a lot of people were not very close.  They had a prayer and then a man spoke about ????????????????.  It was interesting to watch the people.  After the speech they had a group dance and a couple of songs.   That is when we left.  This building is in the "down town" area, where there are a lot of tourist attractions, old buildings, some roman ruins, statues, etc.  So we left and walked around there.  Following are a few of the pictures we took.

We were still there, but wanted to take this picture of a "typical Hungarian" outfit.  Someone told us he was a student.  A lot of people had a small ribbon on their shirts, like the one you can see on the fellow in the background.  

This, I believe, is part of an old Roman wall.  Following is another picture of this same area.

These below are not part of the ruins.  

We see this a lot with the double doors.  The one above this is closed and this is open, just in case you didn't notice.  It is usually a driveway back into a courtyard, where other apartments are.  There are a lot of these on busy streets, and it interesting to see how people negotiate their ways into the driveways.  

There are a lot of statues like this around.  That is my handsome bride standing there detracting from the beauty of the statue.  Notice the cobblestones all around.  Mostly that is what we walked on back in that part of town.  You can see they are renovating what they call the "Fire Watch Tower" in the background."  Apparently that was a very important item when it was built.

There were setting up this outdoor restaurant.  This is one of the first days it would be warm enough to eat outside.  

Try to read the second menu item down.  They were written in Hungarian, German, and English.  The second group English item was interesting.  In case you can't read it I will tell you what it says:  "Cold goose liver in its own fat, with purple onions and toast."  I had to work on it, but I was able to pass it up.

I accidentally took this picture of my foot, but it will show you that I am still upright, most of the time.  It is also a testament of my photography skills, which I want to impress you with.  Plus it IS my best side.

This is an excavation of some ruins, Roman I think.  I thrill when I see stuff like this.  That is a cat you can see on the left side towards the bottom.  Yes, they do have cats in Hungary and dogs!

These are just a few more of the ruins.  You can tell how exhausting it must be.  Notice which one of us is upright, and which is not.  I never walk by these that I don't think, "There was a time when people walked these very walkways, kids played here," and it was obviously a very long time ago that  they were here.  

These are just a few random pictures of places we went.  I am always thrilled to see old stuff.  There are castles, old churches, etc.  in the area we are going to try to get to in the course of our mission.  When we talk to the native people here about all the history there is around them, they are just so "ho-hum" about it.  There is still a great deal of this area we want to explore.  Again, this is in the middle of Sopron.  There is a road that goes all around this area, which is approximately two blocks long and one block wide.  There are stores all around the "Centrum" as they call it, and people live in apartments in the middle of it.  One of our members live there.  I have gained a whole new respect for the Hungarian People.  A missionary lent me a book called, "The Bridge at Auchon."  It is a blow-by-blow account of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, and the Russians quelling it.  The Hungarians have a long history of "always choosing the wrong side to be on," as one Hungarian friend put it.  Just one other quick thought:  On Wednesday night I attended a "English Club", instituted by an American who lives here.  It was an interest accumulation of people, each wanting to practice their English.  We all ordered drinks, and I was able to wow them all by spilling my drink down my sweater and pants.  They were all impressed.  It really was fun.  One of the men I sat next to had been a singer on cruise lines and had been all over the world.  He lost his voice, so he can't sing any more, but he is 62, so that isn't so bad.  There were about 20 people there, and several of them came from Austria to be there.  It was just an interesting evening.  

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